The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment will grade Foreign Employment Agencies this year to enhance their quality and prevent the fleecing of prospective employees seeking foreign jobs.

Chairman of the SLFEB Kingsley Ranawaka said at a press briefing on Tuesday (30) that the Bureau would come down hard on illegal foreign employment agencies this year. Over 400 illegal agencies had been detected during raids last year. Legal action had been taken against 80 of them while others will be dealt with within the next few months.

The objectives of grading agencies will be to give recognition to agencies doing well, he said. They will be encouraged by introducing job seekers and prospective foreign employers to them.

Some of the criteria for grading will be based on their method of recruitment, the time taken for dispute settlement, recruitments and new destinations, ratio between job orders and departures, the number of legal cases against them, complaints received and promptness of action on the part of the agencies

The professionalism and the external appearance of the agency will also be analysed. The agency would have to have appropriate internal arrangements, with three partitions, functional office equipment, an entrance which is easy to locate, and a name board.

"However, agencies penalized for submitting false documents or which made under-aged recruitments will be disqualified," he said.